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Partner(s)
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Good morning!
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The storms are not over for embattled fintech Flutterwave. Once the beacon of progress for the African tech ecosystem, recent events leave it with an unknown future.
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The ripple effects of its kerfuffle with the Central Bank of Kenya are already tainting its reputation in other regions. The Bank of Ghana is now reviewing its activities in the country.
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Below are the tech stories and news you need to know to start your day, carefully curated by Technext.
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Summary of the news
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- The Bank of Ghana is now conducting a review of Flutterwave's operations in the country
- TikTok is working on a music streaming app to rival Apple Music and Spotify
- Ether has overtaken Bitcoin in the options market for the first time ever
- Twitter is testing a new feature on its app that allows users more range of features without signing up
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Bank of Ghana Versus Flutterwave
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More troubles for the embattled Nigerian fintech company Flutterwave. After a series of ordeals in Kenya, it's now facing a new kerfuffle in Ghana.
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Ismail Adam, the Head of Bank Supervision at the BoG said:
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The Bank of Ghana is conducting a review on Flutterwave Technology Solutions Limited as part of its continuous surveillance of the financial system.
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Adam instructed the financial institutions to provide the details of services provided by Flutterwave to their institutions, as well as the fintech company's operational accounts and other financial exposure details. All of this information was meant to be submitted to BoG by July 20, 2022.
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TikTok is coming for Apple Music and Spotify
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TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, filed a trademark application with the US Patent and Trademark Office for “TikTok Music” in May. According to the filing, the service would let users purchase, play, share, and download music.
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The Verge reports that it would also allow users to create, share, and recommend playlists, comment on music, as well as livestream audio and video. ByteDance already filed for a “TikTok Music” trademark in Australia last November.
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ByteDance already has experience with music streaming. In 2020, ByteDance launched a music streaming app, Resso, in India, Brazil, and Indonesia. Resso has some of the same features described in the “TikTok Music” filing, such as the ability to create playlists, share songs on social media, and interact with the app’s community.
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It’s unclear whether ByteDance plans on developing a music streaming app based on the Resso framework, or if it will come up with something else entirely. Just like TikTok had a profound impact on the way social media sites operate, it’s possible that a music streaming app with TikTok ties-ins could change the music streaming industry, forcing services to adapt.
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Ether overtakes Bitcoin
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Ether, the native token of Ethereum’s blockchain, currently on the verge of switching its consensus mechanism from a Proof-of-Work (PoW) to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS), has overtaken the industry leader, bitcoin, in the options market for the first time on record.
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Nairametrics reports that the cumulative dollar value of ether options contracts open on Deribit, one of the world’s largest crypto options trading exchanges, stands at $5.7 billion, representing 32% of the total contracts. This is higher than the $4.3 billion locked-in open bitcoin options trades. Deribit is the world’s largest crypto options exchange, accounting for over 90% of the global total trading volume and open interest.
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Open options trades or open interest refers to the number of options contracts (call and put) traded but not squared off with an offsetting position. The notional open interest is calculated by multiplying the number of contracts open with the going spot market price of the underlying asset.
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Use Twitter’s iOS app without signing up for an account
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In its latest effort to boost users and specifically app usage, Twitter is testing out a new way to get people engaged: Those who are new to the social network will be able to give the app a test drive without signing up for an account.
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TechCrunch reports that the limited functionality will let those who download the Twitter iOS app (i.e. not Android for now) read tweets and follow up to 50 users. You will also be able to search for tweets, explore news and trending topics, and get notifications. This is similar to TikTok which allows users access to a range of features without logging in to an account on the app.
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Twitter said this test is available to a small number of users on iOS but didn’t specify if it was limited to a select number of countries.
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This is a significant departure from how Twitter’s app is currently set up. Currently, you have to sign up for an account even to view tweets on the app. (And to be clear, you can still view tweets without signing up or registering on the web.)
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But while you can read tweets and reply to them, you can’t retweet or like tweets without an account, or tweet afresh in this experiment.
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Latest in funding
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Other stories we are following
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